Product of oriental cuisine, cooking methods. Chemical composition and calorie content of rice noodles, benefits for the body. What dishes can you cook and how not to make a mistake when choosing?
Rice noodles are long, elongated pasta made from rice flour. It is considered a national product of Asian, in particular Japanese and Chinese, cuisine. Consumers are offered a product from 2 mm to 2 cm wide, from 20 to 50 cm long. The color can be white or white-grayish, the texture is dense, after cooking it is elastic. A pronounced nutty or bean aftertaste, but a slight hue of rice. Often confused with funchose, bean starch noodles, but this is a completely different product.
How are rice noodles made?
As a raw material, polished groats of the highest or first grade are used. Grinding is carried out in special mills that resemble large coffee grinders.
Industrial preparation of rice noodles is carried out in several ways:
- Quick … The flour is steamed, partly gelling the starch. The kneading is carried out using boiling water, the hot dough is kneaded and layers are formed from it, feeding it to a special installation (the process is called extrusion). The layers are cut into strips of the desired shape, steamed and again placed in boiling water for short-term blanching. Before packaging, the product is dried to a moisture content of 15%.
- From coarse flour … The raw materials are moistened by washing with water heated to 50-60 ° C, soaking for 30 seconds in the proportion: 1 part flour to 3 parts water. It is dried to a moisture content of 20%, and then left for 30 minutes, until the flour particles swell. Gelatinization is carried out, pumpkin powder is added and only then kneading is carried out. Next, the rice noodles are prepared, as already described: the dough is extruded, cut, blanched and the finished product is dried.
- Analogue of homemade noodles … The groats are first soaked in running water, and then poured cold and allowed to swell for 4 hours. Then they are transferred to a sieve with fine cells, water is removed and placed in mills, where not flour, but a homogeneous liquid mass is obtained, which is laid out on a heated cloth, where it is dried with steam. The steamed sheets are removed from the woven surface, cut into strips and packaged. Additional drying is not required.
The production process is not cheap, so the price of rice noodles is 2-3 times higher than wheat pasta. In China, an entire industry is working on how to make a popular product while lowering production costs.
How to cook rice noodles yourself:
- Purchase polished round white rice with a high starch content. They are washed, allowed to dry in the sun, spreading in one layer on a baking sheet or on a cutting board.
- Grind in a hand mill to obtain a fine grind, or in a coffee grinder.
- Knead the dough on chicken eggs - 1 pc. for 110 g of flour. If the batch fails, add a small amount of boiling water. As you can see, it is impossible to cook rice noodles, as in factories, there are no extrusion facilities, so you have to use eggs.
- The dough, steep and elastic, is rolled into thin layers. Convenient if at home there is a pasta machine or a nozzle for a food processor for making noodles.
- Cut the layers with a knife into thin strips, sprinkle with a little flour and mix.
- They are laid out on a wooden surface and dried in the sun or in an oven with an open door at a temperature of 30-50 ° C.
The finished product can be used immediately or placed in glass jars and tightly closed.
Home-made rice noodles taste different from "store-bought" ones, but you can cook all national dishes from them. Eastern chefs know how to make pasta without eggs; to strengthen the dough, they introduce various additives, the secret of which is passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, the taste of dishes made in different families is different.
Composition and calorie content of rice noodles
The data are given for products made in a pasta factory. Since eggs are added when kneading at home, the nutritional value is higher.
Calorie content of rice noodles - 364 kcal, of which:
- Proteins - 3.44 g;
- Fat - 0.56 g;
- Carbohydrates - 81.64 g;
- Dietary fiber - 1.6 g;
- Water - 11.91 g;
- Ash - 0.85 g.
Vitamins per 100 g:
- Vitamin B1, thiamine - 0.031 mg;
- Vitamin B2, riboflavin - 0.017 mg;
- Vitamin B5, pantothenic acid - 0.051 mg;
- Vitamin B6, pyridoxine - 0.016 mg;
- Vitamin B9, folate - 3 mcg;
- Vitamin PP - 0.221 mg.
Macronutrients per 100 g:
- Potassium, K - 30 mg;
- Calcium, Ca - 18 mg;
- Magnesium, Mg - 12 mg;
- Sodium, Na - 182 mg;
- Phosphorus, P - 153 mg;
Microelements per 100 g:
- Iron, Fe - 0.7 mg;
- Manganese, Mn - 0.5 mg;
- Copper, Cu - 78 μg;
- Selenium, Se - 15.1 μg;
- Zinc, Zn - 0.74 mg.
Also in the rice noodles:
- Essential amino acids, 10 names, most of all arginine;
- Replaceable amino acids, 8 types, glutamic acid predominates;
- Fatty acids - omega-3 and omega-6;
- Saturated fatty acids - palmitic and stearic;
- Monounsaturated fatty acids - omega-9;
- Polyunsaturated fatty acids - linoleic and linolenic.
If the goal of the transition to oriental cuisine is health improvement, then preference should be given to noodles, which require additional heat treatment. Preservatives and flavor enhancers are added to instant products to maintain the shape of the finished product, from which the water has been evaporated. The characteristic taste remains, but you should not count on a complex of useful substances in the composition.
Health Benefits of Rice Noodles
The product does not have a direct therapeutic effect, but it is worth noting that, on average, the Japanese and Chinese are sick less than Europeans, and live longer. Scientists explain this by the increased number of rice dishes in the diet. This pasta, made according to the classic technology, contains only flour and water.
Benefits of Rice Noodles:
- Can be introduced into the diet of people with a history of gluten intolerance.
- Prevents the formation of edema due to the low sodium content.
- Normalizes metabolic processes.
- It allows you to replenish energy reserves and replenish the body's reserve with vitamins and minerals necessary for normal life.
- Easily absorbed, does not cause stagnation.
- Normalizes the work of the nervous system.
- Improves the condition of hair, nails and skin.
- Has an antioxidant effect, reduces the likelihood of bowel or bladder cancer.
- Prevents the development of thrombosis, prevents the formation of cholesterol plaques in the lumen of blood vessels.
There are no age restrictions for eating rice noodles. It can be introduced as complementary foods (pre-chopped) to infants, given to old people with an unstable digestive system or patients during treatment or at the stage of rehabilitation.
Contraindications and harm of rice noodles
There is the only restriction to the introduction of this product into the diet - intolerance to rice. There are no other contraindications to use.
Instant rice noodles can be harmful to the body, but even then - only because of the increased content of flavors, concentrates or flavor enhancers. But such a product looks like a real product only in taste.
Rice Noodle Recipes
The product can be added to hot dishes - first and second courses, added to salads. If you use sugar in the manufacture, then you get a sweet dish that children eat with pleasure. Before preparing a particular dish, you need to know how to cook rice noodles so that they retain the beneficial qualities.
If you plan to cook a salad, then the pasta is laid out in containers with a wide bottom in one layer, poured with salted boiling water and left for 5-6 minutes to swell. Then they are thrown into a colander, washed with running cold water.
The secret of rice noodle soup is that vermicelli is poured into the soup, and all the products needed to prepare the dish are added to it. That is, the pasta is steamed, allowed to swell, washed with cold water, carefully drained, and then cooking begins. It should be borne in mind that all products are "aldente", that is, harsh. The advantage of this culinary treatment is that all useful substances and original taste are preserved.
If you plan to stew a side dish with meat or vegetables, then the noodles previously steamed for 3 minutes are thrown into a colander without rinsing, and only then they are laid out in a pan.
The steaming time is adjusted depending on the length and thickness of the product, as well as on the recipe for the dish being prepared.
Rice Noodle Recipes:
- Fried ice cream … A pack of white ice cream (200 g) is slightly warmed up, identical balls are formed, which are frozen to ice. Proteins (2 pcs.) Beat into a foam, without adding salt. Sweet coconut flakes are poured into one bowl, and potato starch is added to the other. Dip each ball of ice cream in starch, dip first in proteins, and then in a saucer with coconut flakes. Refined sunflower oil is poured into a deep frying pan or stewpan and brought to a boil. While it is warming up, homemade rice noodles are steamed, as for a salad, in the manufacture of which powdered sugar was used. Dip the steamed noodles into deep fat directly on a slotted spoon, then spread on a paper towel to remove excess fat. Beautifully laid out on a platter, sprinkled with powdered sugar, decorated with any frozen berries around the edges. For 3-5 seconds, ice cream is dipped in deep fat and, quickly blotted with a paper towel, placed on a pillow of noodles. The dish looks very impressive, but the taste is specific. To fully appreciate it, they simultaneously put a little melted ice cream and several noodles in the mouth.
- Rice noodles with chicken … Cooking is easy enough. 200-250 g of chicken fillet is cut into portions and fried in a pan, slightly greased with refined sunflower oil, until golden brown. Separately, 150 g of rice noodles are steamed. Carrots, chopped on a coarse grater, bell peppers, cut into strips (preferably red or orange), a small fresh cucumber - in thin strips, are fried in turn over high heat. Combine all vegetables with chicken and noodles, pour in 5-7 tbsp. l. soy sauce, pepper, salt, if necessary, fry over low heat, stirring constantly, for 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle with sliced green onions before serving.
- Rice noodles with vegetables … All vegetables - zucchini, carrots, leek stalks - are cut into thin slices. In a frying pan with a small amount of water and sunflower oil, first stew the leeks - 3 minutes, then lay out the rest of the vegetables, bring to readiness. Grind with a blender, pouring in 2 tbsp. l. soy sauce, stirring in 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 tsp. salt and the same amount of cornstarch. Separately, 100 g of rice noodles are steamed - not thin, without rinsing with cold water, sent to vegetables. Warm up, stirring, for 5 minutes over low heat. Lay out on plates and sprinkle each portion with chopped herbs and pour over soy sauce.
- Rice noodles with shrimps … Shrimp, 300 g, peeled from the shell and the esophagus is removed. Pour 400 g of rice noodles, wide, boiling water for 10 minutes, and at this time they are engaged in shrimp. Fried in butter until crisp. This takes 8-9 minutes. The noodles are thrown into a colander, and then laid out on plates, along with shrimps. Mix the sauce: 2 tbsp. l. water, 2 tsp. sugar and lemon juice, 1 tsp. fresh grated ginger root and 3 tbsp. l. soy sauce. Water the shrimp or serve it separately.
- Rice noodles with seafood … Noodles, 250 g, boil for 3 minutes, mussels, 850 g, - 5 minutes, and small octopuses, 2-3 pcs., - 7 minutes. To make the arthropods tasty and tender, they are first dipped in boiling water three times and only then cooked until tender. 3 cloves of garlic are squeezed, fried in butter or ghee, spread 60 g of curry in the form of a paste, and after another 40 seconds - 1, 5 tbsp. l. sugar, 2 tbsp. l. orange juice and fish sauce, pour 2 glasses of coconut milk and a glass, 110 ml, white wine. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and immediately remove the container from the heat. Nicely spread octopuses on plates, cut into 2-3 pieces, boiled pasta, and open mussels on top. Sprinkle with sauce.
- Rice Noodle Salad … Grind the chili pepper, after removing the seeds, grind 1 clove of garlic in the same way, mix with 1 tsp. grated ginger root. All are mixed and seasoned with the juice of half a lime. Fresh vegetables, carrots and cucumbers, cut into strips. Prepare the marinade by combining half a tablespoon of cane sugar with 150 ml of cool boiled water, add 1, 5 tbsp. l. rice vinegar. Marinate the carrots for about 40 minutes. Rice noodles, 50 g, are pre-prepared, as already described, laid out in a salad bowl, draining the water, onto iceberg sheets. Pour in carrots and mix with cucumber, pour in dressing, sprinkle with sliced green onions. If the taste is not enough, add 2 tbsp. l. fish or soy sauce, which is more familiar to Europeans.
When preparing dishes from thin rice noodles, the Europeans divide the "knot" into 2 and sometimes 3 portions. But the Japanese or Chinese, when packing a product in this way, count on exactly a portion. Usually the weight of such a product is 50-75 g.
Interesting facts about rice noodles
In Japan, the production of the product was mastered already in the 17th century. Each samurai carried with him not only noodles, but also a set for food - a cup for brewing and special sticks.
The longest rice noodles were made by chefs in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou in a pasta factory. In a 100 g knot, there were 113 tiny noodles, each of which was more than 42 m long. But the record was a sample made in the same place, 420 m long. Of course, this is a prototype.
There are several types of rice noodles:
- Mingxian - the thinnest, made from salted rice dough;
- Gotyao - made according to the classic recipe, stripes up to 3 mm;
- Shahefen - tastes like gotyao, but the stripes are wide;
- Layfeng - thick translucent noodles made with the addition of starch, round in shape.
The European consumer is offered the familiar vermicelli.
How to cook rice noodles - watch the video:
When shopping for rice noodles, pay attention to texture. A quality product matte or translucent, like marble, uniform in color, the threads are easily separated from each other. In supermarkets on the counter you can often find the brands "Vifon" and "BingBong". These instant products have nothing to do with real rice noodles. If you want to enjoy the real taste, buy "SenSoy" or "Rollton". Shelf life is up to 2 years.
